Grey
by kate657
Summary: While most of Port Charles is relieved that Claudia Z is no longer a danger to anyone and rejoice in her demise, there are some that do not.Anthony cries out for vengeance while John tries to deal with her loss. Desperate for answers, Sam Z-McCall returns
1. Chapter 1

_**GREY**_ by Kate

Summary: There are two sides to every coin and various shades of truth. Nothing in their world is black and white. Everything is grey.

Claudia Zacchara has been murdered. While most of Port Charles is relieved that the unstable woman is no longer a danger to anyone and rejoice in her demise, there are some that do not.

Anthony cries out for vengeance despite the fact that he despised his daughter while John tries to put the pieces of her death together and attempts to deal with her loss. Desperate for answers, Samantha McCall returns to Port Charles to find out the truth.

* * *

**CHAPTER ONE**

John Zacchara eyed his boss slash brother-in-law as he walked over and closed the door to his office for the purpose of privacy. "I want to be clear." John furrowed his brows at Sonny as he walked back over to him. "I understand that you've been in a difficult position these past few months. I questioned your loyalty to my organization and your ability to follow orders. But still, you did your work and remained respectful."

Sonny's expression faltered momentarily. "Well, most of the time anyway."

"I gave you my word." John grimaced painfully. "That means something to me."

"Regardless of her actions, Claudia was your sister and I understand that." Sonny looked at him seriously and his expression darkened. "I know that you protected her after what she did. I do not intend to hold you accountable for that because she was your family but I do need to know details."

John gave a slight nod of acknowledgement and understanding. "I knew there was a hit. Nothing else. No specifics." He folded his arms over his chest as he followed Sonny who was at his bar pouring a drink. "I do know that Claudia regretted what happened every day. She felt terrible about the price that Michael paid."

Sonny took a sip of his drink and then set it down on the bar. "I will let you keep working for me." He decided finally and then walked away. "But I never want to talk about your sister again."

"And I will never bring her up again after this." John agreed, turning around to face him with a neutral expression. "I'd appreciate it if you told me the truth about what happened to Claudia?"

Sonny seemed to be fighting some inner battle of his own. He finally sighed and looked at him. "Your sister went away." And then he turned his back.

John's expression hardened as he felt the anger over his sister's loss come straight to the forefront of his emotions. "She's gotta be dead. I know there's no coming back from the things she did. I understand that. But I deserve to know how she died. I am owed that much."

Sonny narrowed his eyes. "You are owed nothing. This discussion is over."

"No," John argued. He stood his ground as his boss' expression grew angrier. "I would like a real answer. I need the truth. Please, just tell me. Did you kill my sister? Or did Jason?"

Sonny flashed him a wicked grin. "Fine. Let's pretend the situation was reversed." He shook his head at the notion. "You were the one that got shot by my incompetent sniper and still, I married your sister. And when the truth came out as it inevitably always does, I gave the same excuse that she did."

"What do you suppose she would do to me if I told her that it was a hit gone wrong, a terrible mistake and then tried to pass the blame onto her?"

Claudia would have gutted him like a fish, no question, John realized miserably.

Sonny saw the light dawn on him and then nodded in confirmation. "_That_ is exactly what happened to her."

John felt himself shake with emotion and tried not to picture Claudia's broken body on the floor after Sonny or Jason or whoever had finished with her. "Thank you," he managed to force himself to say and then left the room.

She laughed as he was hauled into the visiting room and forced to sit down at the table across from her. Her eyes lit with pleasure as she watched the guards cuff his feet to metal rings that were drilled into the floor and then handcuffed the chains on his arms to the chair.

Anthony Zacchara finally eyed the woman across from him. "What the hell is so funny?"

She giggled gleefully. "You." She finally managed and gestured to him pointedly. "The ominous, self-important Anthony Zacchara in prison being shoved around like every other goofball in here. It is absolutely priceless."

"Watch your mouth," he ordered and then leaned back to observe her. He looked her up and down. "You're different than I expected."

Ignoring his chatter, she leaned forward. "Granddad would never be caught in such a state," she taunted him.

"That old fool is nothing more than a small time crook." Anthony spat venomously. He narrowed his eyes at her. "You are my kid, not his granddaughter."

Her eyebrows raised in surprise. "Now I'm your kid?" She shifted in her seat as she rolled her eyes at his possessiveness. "Funny, as I recall, I was nothing more than an inconvenience to you when I was born; bearing a shocking resemblance to your first daughter and a terrible reminder of how easily you were played so you handed me off to my whore of a mother."

"I didn't want another Claudia."

"You have nothing to worry about there, Pops." She smirked at him mockingly. "It seems that I inherited nothing from you besides a bit of your looks, none of that god-awful personality of yours or the insanity that pollutes your family, therefore I am nothing like Claudia."

Anthony looked at her and felt his old feelings of resentment towards her fade away. "I am well aware of everything that you've become, Samantha."

"Sam." She leaned forward and looked him dead in the eye. "And if you do in fact know what you claim, then I assume you know why I am here."

He nodded slowly. "I know why you're here. I just don't understand it." He looked at her with bewilderment. "You barely knew Claudia."

Sam chuckled. "You despised her but that didn't stop you from putting a price on her killer's head."

"She was a treacherous, deceitful little bitch but she was my daughter." Anthony explained simply and found his other daughter nodding in agreement.

"And I may not have known her all that well but she was family." Sam's expression deepened as anger lit her eyes. "She was my sister and I will not allow her death to be swept under the rug so easily."

"I'm surprised that your grandfather allowed you to leave. Who will he turn to now that the one who did all of his dirty work has come home to her real family?"

Sam's eyes flashed angrily. "Don't confuse the fact that I've come here to deal with my sister's death with my returning to the Zacchara fold. I'm a McCall and I serve the McCall organization."

Anthony shook his head. "You are a Zacchara first and the McCalls are only using you. They care nothing for family unless there is something to gain."

She glared daggers at him. "Better to have a family that uses you for profit than a father that tries to kill you the very day that you're born."


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER TWO**

His eyes flashed guiltily. "That was a mistake."

She scoffed incredulously. "A mistake?" she repeated with a dangerous edge in her voice. "That's what you've reduced it to?" She shook her head. "Well, I'd rather be a McCall pawn than another one of your mistakes."

"Samantha, if you knew what your mother was like, you wouldn't be so judgmental."

She looked at him in outrage. "My mother was a con artist that dazzled you blind and played you for a fool. I would be proud of her for that if she wasn't the gutter snipe she was." Sam clenched her fists as she glared at her father. "You think Claudia was deceitful and treacherous? Let me tell you that you dodged a bullet because Evelyn put her to shame."

"Whine, whine, whine," Anthony mocked. "I sent you away so you wouldn't pollute John the way your sister did."

Sam yawned tiredly. "Oh, yes, because God forbid I corrupt the Golden Son." She wrinkled her nose at him and didn't mention that she stayed in contact with her brother over the years. "I hear John hates you now though." She giggled at the displeasure she could see in his eyes. "And that because of _you_ he was riddled full of bullets."

"That was…" Anthony began.

"Another mistake?" Sam finished for him and then laughed. "Was killing Maria a mistake as well?" She saw the grief in his eyes at the mention of his beloved wife and her stepmother. "My, my, my. With all these mistakes of yours I have to wonder if anything you've done has ever been deliberate."

"My killing Corinthos will be very deliberate." He assured her darkly.

"Who is that?" Sam asked, already knowing that Sonny Corinthos was the kingpin in the area.

"The bastard who killed your sister."

Sam shook her head dismissively. "Your own hatred of him has clouded your judgment. You've been in prison ever since Claudia married the guy so you couldn't possibly know that he killed her."

"Some things are just a given."

She sighed. "And others can turn out to be way more complicated." Sam was determined to keep a clear head. Given that she wasn't involved in her sister's life in any real way, it would make that easier. A few scattered visits during which only fights ensued because the two sisters rarely saw eye to eye.

Emails and the occasional phone call were very impersonal but that was how their relationship needed to be in order for Sam not to lose her sanity with all the crap that Claudia had pulled.

"Well, I best get going," she announced and began rising from her seat. "I didn't intend to stay this long but I just couldn't resist seeing you in chains." She waved goodbye as she walked out the door.

"I did what I did." Michael Corinthos told his uncle quietly as they sat together in his father's nearly deserted restaurant. "I protected my mother and sister from that psychopath when I killed her. You can't shield me from that."

"I know," Jason admitted regretfully. "But it is still a lot to deal with."

"Claudia was dangerous." Michael reminded him. "She tried to kill Dad, she got me shot and she kidnapped Mom while she was pregnant. If I had to kill her again, I would."

"I know you believe that right now." Once again Jason wondered how it had come to this. "But taking a life no matter the circumstances is a lot to carry. Sooner or later, the weight of what you've done will come crashing down on you."

"I don't feel guilty about it." Michael repeated and felt his patience begin to fade.

"You will eventually but you need to remember that what you did was in defense of your mom and your sister."

"She got exactly what she deserved!" Michael exploded. "Claudia took out a hit on my father. She dragged my mother away at gunpoint while she was in labour. She's a complete whackjob who put me in a coma for a year." His face was bright with anger. "A year, Jason! And then she married Dad and pretended to care about me—do not make excuses for me because it won't change anything. And stop acting like I shouldn't have done it."

"You shouldn't have been the one to do it," Jason roared with every bit of anger that Michael was feeling himself. "I never wanted you involved in any of this." He bit his lip to calm himself down and then softened his tone. "This is not someone I wanted you to become."

"I didn't plan on killing Claudia but I did and I'm not sorry."

"You are better than me!" Jason exclaimed. "Killing someone is not something to be proud of. You shouldn't be this person who claims to feel no guilt because it's a lie, Michael."

"Well, I am," Michael told him unapologetically. "You may not like it but I grew up." He pushed himself up out of his seat and stormed off in a huff.

Jason pinched the bridge of his nose with his hands and sighed miserably. "I should have been the one to kill Claudia, not you." He told himself.

A shrill ring took him from wallowing in his guilt and he groped his pocket and took his phone out, glancing at the caller ID, and a wave of annoyance swept over him as he answered. It was Sonny.

"Morgan." He listened for a few seconds while his boss barked orders at him. "I'll be there soon."

John was busy working under the hood of a car, tinkering with some SUV's engine to notice when she walked in. He grunted in frustration and threw the rag on his shoulder down onto the engine and kicked a tire.

"I don't think the owner would appreciate that." Sam smiled at her younger brother when he turned around to face her.

"Sam?" John furrowed his brow at his sister and then closed the hood of the SUV. He began wiping his hands with the same rag he had thrown on the engine.

"Hey John." She closed the distance between them and hesitantly offered her arms out to him. They weren't that close. She knew that. But they were still family and despite the fact that she hadn't been very close to her sister either, she still felt Claudia's loss. She could only imagine how John was feeling.

He stood still for a minute, still staring at her, studying her expression. When he found sincere grief mixed with incredulity, he stepped forward slowly and hugged his sister. When he pulled away and looked into her dark eyes that reminded him a little bit of Claudia and then mentally checked himself.

The reason her eyes were so familiar was because all three siblings shared Anthony's eyes in varying degrees, only Sam's seemed more different somehow. They were darker at times and he could see flecks of amber in them, a trait he attributed to her mother. She wasn't around much when he was little because about six years after his birth was when his father had finally tired of the freeloading tramp and sent her away but Evelyn McCall had had bright blue eyes with flecks of dark chocolate in them.

He ignored thoughts of Sam's mother, knowing that however much he had disliked her, Sam had despised Evelyn on a level he could never reach. Instead, he asked, "So, how are things?"

Something flickered in her eyes as she stepped a few feet away from him. "Busy but overall, things are good."

"Is your grandfather still working you like a dog?" He couldn't hide the disdain in his tone. John had told her exactly what he thought of the way her grandfather used her but Sam had refused to see or acknowledge it because she kept insisting that he had saved her.

"He doesn't over work me, Johnny." She snapped at him, her natural defenses clicking back into place. "He appreciates everything I do for the family."

His own eyes narrowed. "He better because you've been risking your life to give him power for too long already."

"Here we go." Sam rolled her eyes.

"And we're going to keep going until you realize that I'm right about this." John snapped back, leaning against the SUV. "Mickey McCall is a piece of slime whose only achievements are thanks to the granddaughter he uses and abuses."

"Hey," Sam raised her hand to him warningly, her voice dropping so low that it was almost lethal.

Jason had entered the garage intent on finding Johnny to bring him to Greystone so that Sonny could lay out the details of the job that he wanted both of them to do together but stopped dead in his tracks at the sound of a stranger's voice.

He peered around the corner to see Johnny facing off with a petite brunette, a very pissed off brunette, he amended once he caught sight of the way her jaw was clenched and the narrowing of her eyes.

"He has never laid one hand on me and you should know that I wouldn't put up with it if he did."

"He abuses you by using your appreciation for rescuing you from a life on the run with your mom." He saw the spark of fire in her eyes at the mention of Evelyn and he recognized it as a sign to back off but he couldn't this time. Not after Claudia. "He knows you'd do anything to avoid going back to that life and uses it to his advantage to get you to do whatever he needs regardless of the fact that it could get you killed one of these days."

"As if your father is _so_ much better." She shot back, aiming a challenging glare towards him.

It almost worked but he managed to see through her lame attempt at angering him. Anthony had been hell on wheels for most of his life, getting rid of whoever he thought might influence him in the wrong way including both Sam and Claudia. Even killing his mother during one of his fits. He leaned down towards Sam and shook his head at her.

"You mean _our_ father." A direct hit; the truth that she never wanted to acknowledge being thrown in her face and so she reared back as if he had slapped her.

Jason felt his eyes widen in shock as he looked at the stranger again. Now that he was able to see them both more clearly, he realized gloomily that she and John did share a resemblance. And having another Zacchara in the mix could and probably would mean trouble for everyone.

"What are you even doing here?" John asked, dropping all pretences and no longer wanting to fight her.

Sam swallowed down her anger and looked at him. "That's a stupid question." She watched his eyes cloud with confusion. "Our sister is dead." And then she looked around the garage pointedly. "Where else would I be?"

"You hated Claudia." As soon as he said the words, he regretted them as he watched Sam's eyes fill with pain. She closed them tightly and then opened them, and once again her face gave away nothing.

"That's not true." He arched his brows up in disbelief. "Claudia is the one that made everything so difficult between us. She got on my nerves alot but I didn't hate her." He nodded in agreement. "And even so, it doesn't mean that I don't care that some asshole just blew her away."

"Claudia did a lot of bad things." Sam frowned at the statement. "She was always her own worst enemy. Her thirst for vengeance was never easily soothed and she went too far too many times for it to be overlooked." She stepped away from him, her eyes full of disbelieving anger.

"So you're saying that she had it coming?" She saw his bleak expression and felt like hitting him for being so disloyal to his own sister. "Does she deserve to be buried in some shallow grave and no punishment to whoever killed her?" John hesitated and shifted his weight onto his other foot as he raised his gaze to meet her glare. "I don't care how much trouble she caused, John. After everything you did for her, you deserve more. I deserve more. We _both—_certainly me since I had nothing to do with whatever she did—deserve more respect than Corinthos is showing us."

"You don't know all the things she has done." He told her gently and ignored the agreeing anger flowing through his veins at her outraged words.

Her eyes flashed. "I don't particularly care what she did at the moment, John. The bottom line is that we didn't do anything." She noticed the regret in his eyes and suspected that whatever their sister had done, it had been really bad and that if she only knew, she might rethink her current position but the suspicion didn't quell the anger inside her. "We should be able to bury her body in the mausoleum and lay flowers down for her. As her family, we have the right to mourn for her no matter how horrible she was. And I will not be denied that because Sonny Corinthos is a total asshole."

Jason ignored his own feelings on the matter and stepped forward. "Johnny." Both siblings flinched and turned to look at him. Johnny acknowledged him with a nod of respect while his sister stared him down, boldly looking him up and down, seemingly unmoved by the fact that he towered over her and unaffected by the warning look John sent her way. "Sonny wants us both at his house. He has an assignment."

Sam looked at John in amazement. "You're still working for him?" She shook her head incredulously. "Unbelievable, John… unfuckingbelievable."

John sighed. "It's more complicated than you think, Sam." He reached for her but she stepped away from him.

"The hell it is!" She stared up at him in anger, poking an accusing finger at his chest. "You constantly argue with me over working for granddad because you think he uses me and demand that I grow some self-respect and walk away from the McCalls yet here you are still working for the bastard who doesn't even respect you enough to tell you the truth about what happened to our sister let alone hand over her body so that we can bury it."


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER THREE**

When he reached out to grab her hand, she pulled it away as she shook angrily and took three long strides back. "Sam," he whispered softly and paused as he glanced at Jason who was glaring at him impatiently. He sighed finally. He looked back at his sister. "I have to go."

Sam rolled her eyes and then glanced at Jason Morgan, too ticked off to acknowledge the odd feeling that caused her to shiver when she looked in his eyes and held his gaze for a moment. "I'll see you later, John." She glanced sideways at her brother. "Take care of yourself while you're out there." Then she looked at Jason.

"And you," she said sharply, pulling her jacket tighter against her. "I'm already down one sibling so try not to get my brother killed as well. If anything happens to him, you'll answer to me."

His eyebrows rose dubiously at what she was implying. She was threatening him. She was so small, he wondered if she could even fire a gun without being thrown across a room.

As if she was reading his thoughts, her expression grew colder and she looked at him seriously. "I'm more lethal than I look."

With a crisp nod to them both, she turned on her heel and walked away.

Later on that day, Sam headed back to the garage that her brother owned and worked at. She was surprised to find that he was no longer working so she walked to the door to his living quarters that were located at the back of the building. The door was slightly ajar, telling her that her brother was probably home and so she raised her arm to knock but paused when she heard voices inside. One of them being the voice of a woman.

"I'm worried about you, Johnny," she heard the woman say and quietly pushed the door open farther so that she could see. Sam caught a glimpse of a woman with reddish brown hair sitting on the couch next to John laying a comforting hand on his shoulder. "You're dealing with a lot right now. You don't have any family to help you through this so I want to be here for you to help you grieve."

Sam furrowed her brow at the woman's comment about John not having any family. She could certainly understand why the woman didn't think Anthony would be a lot of help but he still had Sam. She may not be as close to him as Claudia was—which she thought was always a little too close—but their relationship wasn't so bad that Sam wouldn't drop everything to be there for him if he really needed her, just as he would do the same for her.

"I know you're grieving." The woman held her breath for a moment before she continued, and Sam knew she was debating whether or not she should say anything more. "And I know you want revenge on whoever did this to your sister."

"Of course I want revenge!" John's voice echoed throughout the room and he flew off the couch. He stalked a few feet away before whirling back around. "Look at my sister, Olivia!" He waved a large photo around frantically. "Look at her." He glanced at the picture himself as he continued on in his rage. "Dead, lying in a pool of her own blood with a sheet covering her like she means nothing." He was so caught up in his rage that he didn't notice Sam's quiet gasp from the door and with their backs to her, neither realized that the door was now being pushed open all the way.

"Yes, Claudia was horrible to you and to everyone else but she did not deserve this." And he tapped the photo forcefully as he gestured to it.

Olivia reached for the photo. "Don't do this to yourself," she said as she tried to take it away but just as her fingers grazed the corner of the photo, John snapped it away and held it out of her reach. He looked at it one more time.

"She didn't deserve this." He said again, his voice breaking as he bowed his head and took yet another step away from her. He raised his head a few minutes later and let out a long breath. "My sister loved me and we were there for each other. Everybody else used Claudia but she trusted me. She took care of me."

He flung the picture back at Olivia and eyed her with disgust. "If you think that I sent this picture to anybody, that I could ever be capable of betraying her like that, especially after what her husband did to her then you never knew me at all."

"What picture?" Sam chose this moment to announce her presence. John turned to look at her and she could see the rage burning in his eyes as well as the grief. He hesitated before he spoke.

"What are you doing here?" He demanded, glaring at her with an expression torn between surprise and anger but she held firm.

"What picture, John?" Sam repeated the question, keeping her voice steady as she glanced at the picture Olivia held in her hands with what appeared to be mild interest but was really trepidation. She wondered if she really wanted to see the picture but refused to let her anxiety show as she stared her brother down.

John glanced at Olivia and shook his head at her, signaling that she was not to give the photo to Sam. "You shouldn't have to see it." He paused as he tried to rein in his emotions. "It's disgusting."

Sam felt her eyes narrow as she watched the woman she now realized was John's girlfriend back away from them, hiding the photo behind her as she walked; as if Sam hadn't just seen her holding it a few seconds ago. She heard a drawer being opened and turned to Olivia, looking at her with a warning in her eyes.

"Don't you dare," she ordered, reaching out her hands and moving her fingers in a gesture that told Olivia to hand her the picture. "Give it to me or I will take it from you." She kept her eyes on John as she warned Olivia.

"If that photo is of Claudia then I want to see it." Her brother shook his head at her, his eyes carrying a warning that she did not really understand. "I'm your big sister, John. I'm supposed to protect you from things that might hurt you, not the other way around and I already have a big brother."

"Sister?" Olivia asked, confusion flickering in her eyes as she looked at John for answers. Sam took advantage of her diverted attention and grabbed the photograph out of her hands. Olivia realized what had happened too slowly so when she tried to take the photo back, Sam was already two steps away from her as she looked at the picture of her older half-sister lying on the wooden floor of some cabin. There was blood all around her.

John saw the questioning glances Olivia kept shooting him but he was too preoccupied with the growing concern he felt for his sister as he watched her reaction to the picture that had broken his own heart.

When she looked up at John, her eyes were bright with anger and she crumpled the picture as she spoke. "Where did you get this?" Her eyes moved right and left as her gaze bounced between John and Olivia.

"One of Sonny's men gave it to Olivia." John explained, his voice clipped as he glared at Olivia once again.

"Yes." Olivia cleared her throat before speaking again. "Dominic Pirelli."

"I see." Sam tried to maintain her friendly tone and keep the sarcasm and suspicion out of her voice as more questions rose from their answers. "And why would he do that?"

The older woman tensed which made Sam quirk her eyebrows at her brother who looked as puzzled as she was suspicious by his girlfriend's reaction to such a simple question.

"I think he was trying to warn me about getting involved with Sonny again." Olivia's voice shook and she stuttered and wrung her hands in front of her while she stumbled with her explanation.

Right away Sam knew she was holding something back, possibly even several things. Her days as a con had given her superior observational skills. Her work for grandfather had only strengthened her ability to read people. This woman was lying.

She was concerned about the effect her lies would have on John but knew from personal experience that John would have to deal with her in his own way. She would voice her concerns but not right then. There were more urgent things on her mind. She held up the picture and looked at her brother inquiringly.

"So, tell me, John." Her voice was controlled but John could tell that she was also mocking him. "What exactly did Claudia do to deserve _this_?" And she turned her head to look at the photo of their dead sister for dramatic effect before looking back at him.

"Are you sure you want to know?"

Sam nodded with certainty. "I can take it." And she ignored the terrible ache inside her; some indescribable feeling that warned her that perhaps she might not be able to.

"Olivia." He kept his tone neutral as he turned to Olivia, knowing that what he was about to say would anger her. "I need some time alone with my sister."

A small frown appeared on Olivia's face, her forehead wrinkled and her eyes lit with hurt and anger.

He saw his sister watching Olivia carefully, and knew that Sam was studying her reaction while he observed her own, noticing the suspicious light in her eyes as she watched Olivia and her mouth tightening with anger, but he couldn't tell whether it was directed at him and Olivia or if it was about Claudia.

He turned back to his girlfriend, cutting off whatever arguments were about to escape her lips. "I know; we need to talk about some things but right now, I need to talk to Sam. And I need to talk to her alone."

Sam watched the struggle crossing Olivia's features with amusement as warring emotions lit her eyes. When it was over, she flashed John a half-smile that Sam supposed Olivia meant to come off as understanding but was rather chilly.

"Of course. I understand." Sam snorted at the curt response. She knew what that really meant. Oh Olivia understood, but Sam could tell that she was going to make John pay for it later on.

When she left, John patted the seat on the couch beside him as he sat down. "All right. I'll tell you everything." And so, he did. He told Sam all about what their sister had done. Every last horrifying detail.

Her sister had ordered a hit on Sonny Corinthos. That in and of itself was not so horrible considering the business they were all involved in. Sam was more accustomed to being the one that carried hits out than being the person that ordered them.

But the shooter had been incredibly lacking in experience. Her sister was too angry over what had been done to John to do a thorough background check on this Ian Devlin, despite having past history with him.

The moron had shot into a warehouse with a child inside, not to mention two inspectors from the government that could've also been hit. However, it had been Corinthos' teenage son Michael that had taken the bullet and Sam felt a pang of guilt over what the young boy had gone through.

"Claudia never stopped feeling guilty over that." Sam narrowed her eyes at John's statement.

"Obviously, she didn't feel too terrible about it." John stared at her in bewilderment.

"Of course she did." Sam scoffed at him. "She was torn up inside over what happened to Michael."

"That guilt didn't stop her from marrying the boy's father now did it?" John stiffened at that and then nodded in agreement.

"I didn't want her to marry Sonny. I tried to talk her out of it." And he winced as he thought of how incredibly naïve Claudia had been about what her marriage to Sonny would really be. "But father insisted."

Sam rolled her eyes. "I've never had any trouble saying _no_ to him, and I don't understand why the two of you did."

"You didn't grow up with him," John said, his voice growing ominous. "And Claudia was always too eager to please him."

She gave a little laugh from the back of her throat. "Which I've always found very strange. I mean, let's be honest, John. She hated his guts and he hated her."

"That didn't stop her from constantly seeking his approval."

Sam couldn't relate to the idea of seeking Anthony's approval but her father's actions against her on the day she was born had sealed the fate of their relationship forever. She couldn't care less about what Anthony thought of her and she never had cared if he was proud though she knew now that he was, except for the fact that she was working for the McCalls..

"Why did she befriend him when he woke up from the coma?" Sam asked, shaking her head at her sister's nerve. She nearly got the boy killed and then tried to make up for it by making nice with him when he woke up when he was especially vulnerable.

"The same reason she got herself pregnant by Sonny." John's voice filled with sadness as he talked about their sister's child.

"To save her own ass." Sam chuckled at the level of her sister's deviousness.

"Then she lost the baby in an accident." Sam closed her eyes in regret. "Sonny's daughter Kristina was upset and driving on the same road and she wound up driving her off the road."

"And she tried to use that to her advantage too, didn't she?" John nodded reluctantly, already knowing what Sam was thinking of Claudia. "Getting pregnant just to save her own skin was sick but using the fact that she lost the baby because of Sonny's daughter and then playing the good stepmother to the girl's face only to send some psychotic maniac after both Michael and Kristina for revenge? That is just twisted."

"I told you that she had a lot of problems," John said defensively.

"Don't make excuses," Sam snapped, narrowing her eyes at her brother's nerve to defend Claudia. "She was a grown woman that knew exactly what she was doing; she knew that it was wrong but she did it anyway."

"She was our sister, Sam." John's voice was filled with anger and a need for revenge against Sonny and Jason grew stronger. "And Sonny treated her like crap."

"She took a pregnant woman hostage and dragged her away while she was in labor," Sam cried, shaking her head at his arguments.

"Sonny pushed her over the edge and Carly was just in the wrong place at the wrong time," John explained, fighting to control his rage over the things that Sonny had said. "He said that he was glad that his daughter had killed their baby; he actually called his own son's death a blessing."

Sam's eyes darkened with both anger and disgust. "He actually said that?" She couldn't believe Corinthos was so heartless.

"Yes, and of course Claudia fought back!" John exclaimed hotly, and wiped the sweat gathering on his forehead with his sleeve.

"If he hadn't called her out in front of all those people, crushed and humiliated her the way he did, Carly never would've been in any danger and Claudia might still be alive right now."

Sam couldn't shake her anger over her sister's actions but at the same time felt a wave of sympathy wash over her for what her husband had done. "Now I understand," she said, her voice quiet.

"What?" John demanded angrily, sneering at her.

"Why you're still working for him."

John's face crumpled as tears ran down his cheeks. "Claudia was always there for me. But I was so angry at her over what she had done to Olivia to listen to her when she tried to warn me that Jason was closing in on her." Sam shot him a confused look. "I'll explain later but Claudia and Olivia didn't get along."

Sam could imagine why. Claudia was almost as good at sniffing out liars as she was. "Claudia told me to watch my step," John told her.

He saw understanding light her eyes as she put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "You'll get through this, John." She raised her gaze to his. "I know I'm not Claudia but I'm here for you now if you need me."

He nodded emphatically and put an arm around her back, pulling her into a hug. "I just can't stop thinking about her final moments." Sam pulled away slightly and her eyes were curious. "Not knowing what happened to her is killing me. I mean, someone saw a bloody handprint on his shirt later on that night and so, I wonder if she grabbed onto his shirt to beg for her life."

"Doubt it." The small smile that curved his sister's mouth was almost wistful. "She would never have given anyone the satisfaction."

Jason walked into his boss and friend Sonny Corinthos' living room wordlessly, feeling a knot of tension in his stomach. He hated to be delivering news of this caliber to Sonny but he had no choice.

Sonny turned to him and smiled, flashing his dimples as he waved him in. "Jason." His voice held a note of triumph that Jason knew was attributed to Claudia's demise.

When his late wife's crimes were exposed, his friend had been so livid that he lashed out at her during the birthday party that he had organized himself and publicly vilified Claudia Zacchara.

"Would you like something to drink?" Sonny asked him cheerily, already pouring Jason a drink without bothering to wait for an answer.

"No." Jason said shortly and when Sonny started to hand him the drink, he shook his head adamantly. "I'm here on business."

"Did something go wrong with the shipment?"

"I wish," Jason muttered under his breath and looked up to meet Sonny's puzzled gaze. He took a deep breath. "No. But we do have a problem."

"Jason, whatever it is, it can wait." Sonny offered him the drink a second time. "Now is a time for celebration, not concern. That lecherous woman is finally gone. The case has been closed thanks to the PCPD's incompetence."

"I wish it were as easy as that," Jason admitted, thinking of the consequences his nephew would soon be suffering through. "And right now, the police are the least of our worries. A new threat has arisen."

He frowned at the troubled expression on Jason's face. "Is it really that bad?" Sonny finally asked him.

Jason hesitated before he answered, thinking of the fiery brunette that had threatened him earlier that day. He had found that fascinating. However, he couldn't deny the danger her presence posed. "There's another Zacchara in town."

Sonny clenched his fist around the glass in his hand so tightly, that the glass broke in his hand. Shards of glass were now embedded in Sonny's fingers and the liquid was dripping from his hand.


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER FOUR**

"Why didn't you tell me?" John pursed his lips together at the hurt he could hear in her voice. He knew that sooner or later, he would be forced to have this conversation. He didn't know how he would be able to explain his motivations for keeping his sister's existence a secret.

"I couldn't." And that was the truth but he knew she wouldn't understand.

Her eyebrows knitted in confusion and more pain swirled in her eyes as she looked at him harder, trying to grasp his meaning.

"You couldn't tell me that you had another sister?"

He shook his head in frustration. "You don't know what it was like." A pained expression crossed his face. "I can tell you with words but you'll never understand because you didn't live it."

"What?"

"My life." John never talked about his childhood. To anyone. He didn't want to relive it and even saying the words brought the harsh memories of those days rushing back to him.

"What does that have to do with anything?" The fact that she even asked that question only proved that she would never understand what it had been like for him as Anthony's only son. To have a father that took away anyone that ever loved you.

He wouldn't talk about this, he decided then. "Everything." He couldn't, not with Olivia, who knew nothing about growing up in the mob, let alone as a Zacchara.

"I don't understand." She spoke with a question in her voice; a question that he didn't want to answer.

A knock at the door interrupted them and John looked up towards the sky gratefully. He gave her an apologetic look before he sprang into action and strode towards the door.

When he opened it and saw Jason Morgan and Sonny Corinthos on the other side, he wished he were back dealing with Olivia's questions instead of the ones he could see in Sonny's eyes.

"Move." The mob boss barked the order and not knowing what else to do, John stood aside and allowed them entry. A flare of irritation entered Sonny's eyes as he noticed Olivia on the couch and her state of undress, making it clear what had gone on before they had arrived.

He raised his gaze from the woman to Johnny and glared at the young man angrily. "I hear you have a visitor."

John frowned at the snarl in his boss' tone. He glanced at Jason questioningly and realized that he had told Sonny about Sam's visit. "Yes." He looked at Jason mutinously; the enforcer had no idea what he'd done by telling Sonny. "My sister came to see me."

"Your sister?" Sonny spat venomously. "I thought that she was dead."

John narrowed his eyes at the mention of Claudia.

"You would know." All eyes turned to look at Sam in the doorway, leaning against the frame lazily, smirking at the scene before her. "You're the one that killed her after all."

Her dark eyes gazed into his own as he bit his lip in frustration. He didn't think it was possible but the situation had just gotten worse. "Sam," he tried to get her attention even though he knew it was too late.

He'd seen the way Sonny's eyes had flared with rage at her voice.

"John, I was just coming by to see if you would come with me to visit Pops." He raised an eyebrow at her in confusion, wondering why on Earth she would ever go visit their father. "I saw him the other day. He misses you terribly." He swore under his breath as he realized she was taunting Sonny and Jason. The crazy woman was enjoying this!

"I don't think that's the best idea right now." He told her through clenched teeth and hoped she would take that as the warning it was meant to be.

"Oh?" She frowned innocently but the mischief in her eyes was as plain as day.

"What exactly is it that you want?" Jason was surprised to hear Sonny speak so calmly towards John's sister. It had been incredibly difficult to get him to calm down after he told him that Anthony had another daughter, and that she was in Port Charles.

Her frown deepened and appeared genuine this time. "What do I want?" She echoed the question and looked around the room pensively. "I'm fairly certain I wouldn't tell you even if I knew what you were talking about."

"Why are you here?" Sonny rephrased with less patience.

"I don't see how that's any of your business." Sam's gaze bounced from Sonny to Jason as she debated whether it was wise to go any further. She shrugged, figuring she was never one to be very concerned with what other people thought of her. She glanced at John curiously, giggling in amusement at the anger she could feel radiating from Sonny, his enforcer and even her brother's girlfriend.

"Is he really Sonny Corinthos?" John's brow furrowed at the question and he didn't miss the way her eyes glittered as she asked.

"Yes." He chose to humor her and hoped she wouldn't do something stupid. Sometimes her antics were amusing but if she did anything to anger Sonny or Jason, it could be very bad for the both of them.

His sister's forehead wrinkled and she turned her attention back to Sonny with an appraising look on her face. She seemed a little disappointed for some reason. Frowning, she spoke to him. "I'm not sure what I expected." She scratched her head thoughtfully and shrugged. "But I thought that you'd be taller."

John blew out a breath of frustration as he watched Sonny's eyes grow dark with rage, Jason's face hardened with both anger and annoyance; and Olivia just glared at Sam. Claudia may have been crazy but Sam was a different story. She was pretty and smart but she was also lethal.

She pretended to act rashly sometimes like Claudia had, but it was always a tactic. She almost always had some sort of plan worked out in her head before everything was said and done even when she was impulsive. Claudia lashed out in frustration and a need for a vengeance but Sam never did anything without a reason. Whether she or anyone realized it or not, everything she said or did was calculated.

This is why he couldn't believe that she had just knowingly incited a riot.

"You have a striking resemblance to your sister." Sam chuckled at the remark. She knew it was meant to anger or wound her because she could tell the moron actually thought that she and Claudia had been close in life. "It's almost eerie how alike you are." She raised an eyebrow as she decided to indulge Sonny's angry tirade and briefly wondered how he could make a statement like that when he had just met her two minutes ago.

He made a show of glancing around the room before he finally rested an icy glare on her again. "She's dead now because of all her schemes and lies so I'd think real hard about the next words that come out of your mouth."

Sam scoffed, shaking her head in disbelief. "Now I'm really disappointed." She looked at John. "He's the Don that has everyone up and down the eastern seaboard quivering with fear?" She glanced at Sonny with disdain and confusion. "Really?" She looked at the enforcer and gestured back at Sonny. "You actually take orders from _him_?"

"I mean, I've met some really scary guys in my line of work." Her voice was soft as she spoke to him and Jason couldn't help but wonder if her lips were as soft. He shook himself free of those thoughts once he realized they had entered his mind. "They were really bad ass. But him?" She frowned delicately as she once again glanced at Sonny sideways. "He's about as intimidating as a blade of grass."

"Sam, that's enough." John's voice brought her out of her little one-sided conversation with Sonny's enforcer and back to reality. Her brother looked annoyed, and his girlfriend looked pissed. She glanced at Sonny's dark expression and grinned. "I think it's time for you to go."

"That sounds like a very wise idea." Jason finally spoke after being silent, wanting to see how the new arrival would behave before he reacted. And now he was glad that he had because he realized that this woman had the potential to be a bigger threat than even Anthony. He knew just by the way she carried herself and spoke that she was involved in their world; deeply involved.

He looked at Sonny and tried to communicate with a glance that they should let her walk away without a fight. Sonny seemed to get his meaning because he bristled in reaction. His dark eyes filled with frustration and rage as he glared back at Jason who merely nodded back that he understood what he was feeling but it was the best decision. For everyone involved.

"And leave you here alone with them?" Sam looked at Jason and Sonny pointedly. "You must be crazy." Then she looked directly at Jason. "And you're delusional if you think I'm going to leave and let you take your anger at _Claudia_ out on him."

Jason's expression faltered at this and he turned his gaze to John as he thought about what his sister's words might mean.

"If you were really so concerned about John, you shouldn't have run your mouth off the way you just did." A voice she didn't expect snapped at her angrily and she turned to meet Olivia's glare with a cool expression. She wasn't about to allow her control to slip because the woman had managed to piss her off by lecturing her about her behavior while she was keeping something from her brother, maybe even putting him in danger with her secret.

She looked Olivia in the eyes before she spoke. "Go put some clothes on." The outraged expression on the woman's face was hilarious and Sam had to force herself to suppress a laugh. "Then maybe we'll talk about how I don't defend my actions to you or anyone else."


	5. Chapter 5

_I'm almost done with the next chapter of this story and the next one of Con a Con but I won't be able to work on them again for at least a few days so here's something to tide you over. Thanks to everyone who takes the time to leave a comment or review. They're always appreciated. Read & enjoy. _**

* * *

**

**CHAPTER FIVE**

Johnny Zacchara exited the elevator onto the seventh floor of the Metro Court Hotel. He turned right and headed down the hall, stopping at the eighth door on the left.

Room 716. Where his sister was staying while she was in Port Charles.

He knocked lightly on the door, hoping she was awake already. It was morning and with her job she usually worked most nights so she tended to sleep into the early afternoon.

John listened for a few seconds before knocking again. "Sam, its Johnny." He called out to her just in case she was choosing not to answer the door because she didn't know who was on the other side.

Several seconds later, he heard footsteps coming towards the door and then the chain rattled, and she unlocked the other lock on the door.

Opening it a crack, his sister hesitantly looked and made sure it was actually him and when she had visual confirmation, she gave him a small smile of recognition and opened the door.

"I'm on the phone right now," she said, holding up her cell phone as evidence and walked back to the small work station and sat back down. "It's business so I'll be a few."

He nodded in understanding even though he knew that "business" meant that her grandfather was involved. There were few men he hated more than his own father but Mickey McCall was definitely one of them.

Anthony at least had the excuse of his mental illness; the parasite that was Sam's maternal grandfather could make no such claim.

"How big of a problem?" Sam asked keeping her voice low as she spoke to the person on the other end probably so he couldn't overhear. "I told you before that I'm not coming back until I get some answers."

She was becoming agitated. Her shoulders were hunched and her jaw had tightened as she geared up for an argument. Sam began shaking her head and pulled the phone away from her ear because the man had started yelling.

Sam rolled her eyes at the screams, a gesture which indicated that she was fairly used to this behavior. "Feel better?" She asked sarcastically, smirking at whatever the person had said in response. "If you're not capable of handling things on your own while I'm gone then maybe your suitability for your position and the responsibilities that come with it should be reconsidered."

They started talking back and forth for a while until Sam had finally reached her breaking point. "Then get someone else!" She gritted out in frustration. "Call Rodney and he'll assist but get it done otherwise you're going to be next on that _list_." She then ended the call before the man had a chance to respond.

"Who was that?" Johnny asked curiously, wondering why she had gotten so worked up.

"Not going there, John." Sam wagged a finger at him. "You keep telling me that you don't want anything to do with the life so you shouldn't ask questions that you don't want to know the answers to."

"I work for Sonny Corinthos." He reminded her that he was already involved in the business.

"Then I really can't tell you because you work for the competition."

The Corinthos-Morgan and McCall organizations had nothing to with each other so her argument fell flat there. But he recognized it as a warning to back off.

"You went too far last night." He changed the topic to the main reason why he had decided to pay her a visit. The memory came rushing back and his nostrils flared with anger.

"How?" Sam asked and her eyes flickered with confusion as she tilted her head to stare up at him curiously.

"Your treatment of Olivia was out of line." His sister's eyes now sparked with irritation as she looked at him in bewilderment.

She was so affronted that she opened her mouth several times, intending to reply but every time she tried to speak, she only sputtered.

"You don't know anything about her." He remarked snootily. It reminded her of his high and mighty girlfriend and immediately she found her voice again.

"Like you said John; I was a con." Sam spoke calmly, looking back at him unashamedly as she continued where she left off the night before. "I know how to read people. I can spot a liar coming a mile away and Olivia Falconeri may have you snowed now but she's hardly a pro so it won't be long before her house of cards comes falling down around her."

_Olivia's eyes filled with rage as she glared at John's sister mutinously. _

_Sam's mouth twitched as if she were fighting back a smile and then she looked into the younger woman's eyes and saw the humour dancing in the dark orbs. _

"_I'm not kidding." Sam stuck her hip out to the side and tapped her right hand against the counter that she leaned against while looking at her watch in a display of impatience. "The rest of us shouldn't have to be exposed to the sight of you practically naked with a man who might as well be your son." _

_Sam was aware from John that Olivia had a son that was his age which hadn't bothered her at first but now faced with the disturbing visual of her younger brother with a woman old enough to be his own mother, she couldn't help but cringe with disgust. _

_Anger flushed John's girlfriend's cheeks and the slight tightening of her jaw indicated that she didn't appreciate Sam mentioning her son. _

"_I'm not normally one to stick my nose where it doesn't belong," Olivia began with barely contained fury as she glared at her boyfriend's sister. "I've tried to hold my tongue but you have pushed this too far." _

_Sam looked at her in a patronizing way as she waited expectantly, willing her to continue as if she were indulging a child. _

"_Your sister, God rest her soul, is dead," Olivia began gently but it was hard to miss the disgust lurking in her eyes. "And you carrying on like this, inciting a riot and attacking people that you don't know from Adam is not going to bring her back." _

"_She was a very awwf…." The older woman trailed off when she realized what she was about to say. Sam's dark eyes glittered with mischief as she raised her eyebrows, daring her to finish that thought in front of both of Claudia's siblings. "__**Troubled**__ woman with a lot of problems and she's finally at peace now." Olivia covered quickly._

"_You need to let go of the anger and embrace the pain because it's the only way you're going to be able to move on." _

_Sam turned her gaze to her brother. "Does she always try to defend him like this?" she asked curiously, flicking her gaze at Sonny Corinthos (who was practically shaking with jealousy) pointedly, sensing that the relationship between the mob boss and the older woman was a rather touchy subject. _

"_This has nothing to do with Sonny!" Olivia exclaimed, shaking her head insistently in denial, focusing on Johnny as she spoke. _

"_Ooh!" Sam commented with a laugh. "I guess so." _

"_I am trying to protect Johnny," Olivia insisted, letting out an exasperated sigh. "I care about what happens to him. I don't want to see him hurt because some people are too selfish to consider that their actions affect him."_

_There was no mistaking who she considered that "someone" to be because the jab was clearly aimed at Sam who narrowed her eyes almost unnoticeably in annoyance. _

_She had been taught long ago that when someone pisses you off that you shouldn't waste your time getting angry. Instead, get even. While anger was definitely a feeling she was experiencing at the moment, Sam reined it in and chose to strike back. _

_She glanced at Sonny again, noticing the way his eyes glittered with anger whenever Olivia said John's name. "Then maybe you should leave him alone rather than using my brother as a way to make your ex-lover or whatever this greasy-haired idiot is to you jealous." Then she tilted her head to the side as she glared at Olivia. "Because you carrying on like this, using my brother for thrills or as a weapon against Sonny is going to get John killed." _

_Olivia's eyes narrowed into slits which made Sam laugh in triumph. She always enjoyed when she was given the opportunity to throw some holier-than-thou idiot's words back at them. It was very satisfying to let them know they were no better than the people they sat around judging all day._

"_That is, if whatever you're hiding doesn't do him in first." Olivia's eyes widened comically and she tried to pass it off as shocked innocence but Sam shook her head, not buying it. _

_She noticed the woman start to tremble and look around anxiously, probably making sure her brother and Sonny didn't doubt her. "Oh, come on. You're not fooling anyone. It's obvious you're hiding something. You look like a deer caught in headlights right now." _

"_Sam, knock it off." Johnny finally intervened, shaking his head in disapproval at his sister's antics. "You're not a con anymore so stop trying to trip everybody up and Olivia isn't required to give her life story because I trust her." _

"_Then you're a fool." Sam muttered, eyeing Olivia as she spoke, watching disinterestedly at the look of relief that passed through her eyes and her features relaxed. "And you are going to regret blindly placing your trust and faith in a woman that doesn't deserve it." _

"Everyone has secrets," John said calmly, not seeming the least bit worried. "Whatever it is, it's in the past and I don't need to know every little thing that happened before she met me."

Sam shook her head, eyeing him sympathetically. "Whatever she's hiding isn't a _little thing_." She didn't understand why he didn't sense that she was keeping a major and _relevant_ secret from him.

Normally she was of the mind that whatever was in a person's past was private especially given the things she had done in her own past that she hoped never came out.

But there was a difference between covering up something you did when you were desperate or that you're ashamed of and hiding something that could hurt the people around you when it came out.

"You saw her last night." Sam gestured wildly with her hands as she tried to get her point across. "She looked like she was shitting bricks when I called her on it."

John waved his hand in a dismissive gesture as he rose to Olivia's defense. "She was horrified by what you were saying."

Olivia had said as much to him the other night after Sam had left, insisting that she had no idea where his sister had gotten the idea that she was keeping anything from him or why she had developed such a hostile attitude towards her.

"You never learn, do you?" Sam asked him snidely, looking at him pitifully. He was so clueless that it wasn't even entertaining. The way he fought so hard to defend Olivia worried Sam and she feared that he was starting to fall for the cougar. "That wasn't horror, it was fear. I bet she spent most of the night swearing up and down that she was innocent and that I was a big meanie who hurt her feelings."

The slight hardening of his features told her that she had hit the nail right on the head. "Don't you see, John?" Sam questioned, folding her arms across her chest. "She wasn't shocked. She wasn't insulted or horrified. She was _worried_. And she tried to cover it up by making me out to be the bad guy because I saw through her."

"You sound exactly like Claudia now," John snapped, hoping that the comparison would make her angry and she'd drop the subject. "She hated Olivia too and she went to a lot of trouble to cause problems between us."

His sister looked back at him smugly. "Then Claudia was actually right for once." Then Sam's features softened suddenly and she placed a hand on his shoulder. "But you make a good point."

"What?"

Sam sighed, looking at him with an almost apologetic expression. "I'm not Claudia but I wouldn't be your big sister if I didn't at least try to warn you."

"So you're not going to hatch some crazy plan to break us up?"

Sam's eyes widened in surprise and she took a step away from him. "Why would I do that?"

"You don't like Olivia." John told her, wondering why she was so surprised that he would think she was out to ruin his relationship after the way she had acted the night before.

His sister quirked an eyebrow at him. Clearly, she didn't follow his logic. "I have bigger problems than you and Olivia. And if you won't listen to reason then you're already a lost cause where she's concerned."

She sat down in the chair nearby and stretched out. "Don't you worry, John." She smirked up at him. "When her lies come back to bite _you_ on the ass, I'll be here to say 'I told you so.'"

He rolled his eyes at her arrogance. "There is such a thing as being too cocky, you know."

Sam laughed in response. "Secrets and lies always come out." She flashed him a knowing look. "It's inevitable."

"If you're so sure that Olivia's secret will eventually come out, why did you provoke her last night?"

Sam's dark eyes flickered with annoyance and she squared her shoulders defensively. "First of all, she was the one that opened her big mouth and accused me of playing fast and loose with your life." She sat up straight now and cleared her throat before she continued. "Then she started to lecture me on how to grieve which was very inappropriate and presumptuous—not to mention distasteful because who the hell is she to tell me how to grieve for my own sister?" The woman's audacity was unbelievable. "I had to knock her down." The way Olivia acted like she sat on some imaginary moral perch angered her so she took the opportunity to knock her off right on her ass.

John looked at her apologetically, realizing his mistake and decided that it was best to stop talking about Olivia before things got worse.

"You caused a lot of trouble with Sonny last night." He commented, remembering the way she had taunted both Sonny and his enforcer, even bringing up their father to stick it to Sonny.

"Oh?" She asked disinterestedly. It was clear that she wasn't exactly sorry or bothered by the fact that she had angered his boss. Then she cast a worried look up at him. "They didn't do anything to you, did they?"

He shook his head. If Sonny even attempted to do anything to him so soon after Claudia's "disappearance" it wouldn't look very good for him. "Sonny left a little while after you did but Jason did stick around to interrogate me about you."

Sam tensed, anger lighting her eyes. "If Morgan has questions about me then he should ask me himself."

"I know." John wasn't a total idiot. He wouldn't give any details about Sam, especially after Jason had run to Sonny and told him that Sam was in town right after he had seen her at the garage. "I told him that."

"What did he say?"

"He wants to meet with you." Sam's forehead creased delicately as she pondered what the enforcer might be up to.

"Where?"

"He wants you to come with me to his apartment." Sam was silent; knowing there was more and waited for her brother to continue. "Unarmed."

She chuckled in response but frowned when she realized that John was serious. "Forget it." And she shook her head for emphasis. "There's no way I'm walking into enemy territory without at _least_ one gun."

"Do you have to make this more difficult?"

Sam nodded emphatically. "I'm not going without a weapon for protection. That's not only insane it is incredibly stupid and Jason Morgan should know better."

"I think Sonny's the one that made it a condition."

Her eyes narrowed and her mouth curled in disgust at the mention of the mob boss. "Call Jason."

"Why?"

"Because I have a few conditions of my own."


	6. Chapter 6

_Here's the new chapter. It didn't take me that long this time. Read & enjoy everbody. Hope you like it._**

* * *

CHAPTER SIX**

Jason sighed as he looked at the caller display on his phone. He frowned when he saw that it was Johnny Zacchara but answered immediately. "Morgan."

"Jason its Johnny." Jason's frown deepened at the hesitation he could hear in the younger man's voice. "My sister is with me and she wants to talk to you."

"McCall." Sam's voice came on the line. He felt a dull ache in his head begin. She was already mocking him.

"What do you want?"

Her husky voice was oddly professional when she answered. "John tells me you want to meet."

"Well?" He asked, already sensing that she wasn't going to make this easy.

"And it's not going to happen if you don't agree to the following conditions."

Jason sighed. "What are they?" He had expected that she would have certain demands but her tone annoyed him. Who was she to bark orders at him?

"If Corinthos is going to be in attendance, this conversation ends now."

"Sonny won't be there. He's left this for me to deal with."

"Lucky you." She replied and he couldn't tell whether she was being coy or sarcastic. "I will be armed and that is a deal-breaker."

He smothered a laugh at the demanding tone she had switched to. He had told Sonny that asking her to come without a weapon was out of the question but he had to give at least the pretense that he would follow orders.

"Fine." He acquiesced easily. "Is there anything else?"

"No questions about the McCall organization." Her voice carried a warning that he didn't really understand and didn't care to but shrugged as if she stood before him.

"That's not a problem."

"No?" She sounded doubtful.

He couldn't help but chuckle. "We're not interested in the McCalls." Jason told her finally, taking on a serious tone so she wouldn't think he was mocking her.

"Then we're good." Just like that. She agreed. A part of him was skeptical but he couldn't hear a trace of deception in her voice so he assumed that she was being sincere. "Where do you want to meet?"

"I have an apartment at Harborview Towers."

Sam whistled. "A penthouse huh?" Then she clucked her tongue as she thought it over. "I guess that's fine."

Then a minute later she spoke again. "Date and time?"

* * *

Johnny led the way out of the elevator when it arrived at the top floor of Harborview Towers. He walked over to Jason Morgan's front door, nodding in acknowledgement to the guard who stopped them at the door and eyed Sam suspiciously.

"Jason is expecting us." He told him and waited expectantly for him to open the door.

The guard hesitated and glanced at his sister and then looked back at Johnny questioningly. "Both of you?"

Johnny nodded. "Of course."

"Who is she?" The guard asked conversationally now.

Sam chuckled, catching the way he looked her up and down. "Way more than you can handle, Cowboy." John cut his eyes at her in annoyance and she shrugged in response.

"This is my sister." Johnny answered and watched in amusement as the guard's eyes widened in alarm. He averted his gaze from Sam's body immediately and returned to a more professional demeanor. "We have a meeting with Jason."

The guard knocked on Jason's door for them and backed away as soon as he heard footsteps approaching from inside.

The door was pulled open a few seconds later and revealed Dominic Pirelli on the other end. "Johnny." The new guy acknowledged him as they both walked in and then he eyed Sam curiously. "You must be Miss Zacchara." His tone was friendly and inviting but he could never know what a big mistake he had just made.

He wasn't surprised when he turned to look at his sister and saw that she had gone rigid.

Sam's face was now flush with anger and something dangerous sparked in her eyes and she clenched her fists as she raised her gaze to glare daggers at Dominic. "It's _McCall_."

Jason had just reached the top of the stairs, intending to come down immediately but he froze when he felt the crackle of tension and then the sudden drop in temperature when Sam had corrected Dominic.

Dominic chuckled uncomfortably, obviously nervous now and tried to make up for the apparent offense. "I'm sorry. I just assumed."

John cringed at the lumbering idiot's reply.

"You just assumed?" Sam parroted disdainfully, looking at him in disbelief. "You must be new." And she shook her head in disapproval, disgusted by his nonchalant attitude regarding his mistake. "Only a newbie would show up to a meeting without knowing exactly who he was meeting."

He grinned at her, flashing his dimples that were oddly familiar to her. "I'm really sorry, Miss McCall." He emphasized her last name and Sam's eyes narrowed at the mocking tone he intentionally used. "But it was an honest mistake."

"It was a _clumsy_ mistake." Sam interrupted him, putting her hands on her hips. "And a very dangerous one at that. I've seen men killed for calling someone by the wrong name before. And the name you called me by is offensive enough to warrant that kind of reaction."

Dominic stiffened and glared at her. "You are John Zacchara's sister. It is not a big leap to assume that you share the same last name." He spit defensively.

Sam's eyebrows actually rose in amusement at that one. "That's the defense you're going with?" She laughed mockingly in response. Sam looked at John and nodded at him assuredly. "Don't worry, John. He's forgiven. With a moronic line like that, I couldn't possibly stay mad. It's just too funny."

Jason relaxed and then came down the stairs. He looked at the scene before him. "Is everything okay here?" he asked, glaring at Dominic harshly as he spoke.

Sam hooted with laughter once again. "Oh, yeah, everything's fine." She said and then her face relaxed into a serious expression as she met his gaze knowingly. "But you know that already since you were probably able to hear it all from where your position on the stairs."

Jason led Sam into the living room, taking the chair while his sister sat down on couch nearby. John hung back and glared at Dominic. "For the record, she's my _half_ sister." And he glanced at Jason to make sure they couldn't hear him. "And there is no bigger insult to her than reminding her that she is my father's daughter."

He passed by Dominic, intentionally knocking into him roughly as he went by and joined Sam on the couch, taking the seat beside her.

Jason leaned back in the chair a while later and met Sam McCall's intense dark eyes. "Why are you here in Port Charles?"

Her eyes flashed with emotion in response. "I'm not stupid enough to believe that my sister is missing, Mr. Morgan." Then she took a deep breath and glared at him. "I'm here to get the respect that I deserve."

Understanding sparked in the enforcer's eyes as he nodded. "You want Sonny to hand over her body."

A muscle in Sam's face twitched. "That." She acknowledged with a simple nod and then she leaned forward, looking at him intensely as awareness suddenly flashed in her eyes. "And one other thing."

"What else?" Jason asked, looking at her curiously, wondering what other problem she could have with them besides the fact that they hadn't handed over Claudia's body. Her features suddenly hardened and Jason felt a warning go off in his head as she arched an eyebrow at him.

"For you to tell me who _really_ killed my sister." Morgan's face went slack in disbelief and his eyes flashed with fear. She smirked at him triumphantly as she spoke again. "And until that happens, I won't be going away."


	7. Chapter 7

_Here's the next chapter. Read & enjoy._

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**CHAPTER SEVEN**

Johnny's gaze bounced between Sam and Jason in disbelief and finally rested on his sister, shaking his head in confusion. "What do you mean?" He glanced at Dominic who looked just as shocked as him.

"You're not as covert as you'd like to think, Jason." She answered the question she could see in his alarmed eyes. Then she turned to her brother sympathetically. She told him about her visit with their father who had insisted that Sonny was the one to kill Claudia despite having no details about the manner in which she had been killed

"I wasn't sure until you showed me that photograph." She noticed Morgan's head snap up at the mention of the picture. "Claudia had been bludgeoned."

"That's not evidence." Dominic pointed out, feeling Jason's gaze on him. He was the one that had been tasked with figuring out where the picture had come from and he guessed the enforcer suspected him of screwing up.

"True." Sam McCall admitted and even nodded in agreement but then she looked at him seriously. "But Claudia's death was sloppy. The cleanup was even more careless. And the way she was killed just doesn't make sense if I'm to believe that your boss killed her."

Jason inhaled deeply. "What are you talking about?" He finally asked, wondering how much she thought she knew.

Sam raised an incredulous brow at him. "Sonny wouldn't have hit Claudia over the head, he would have shot her." She watched his eyes widen in surprise again and felt the insult like a punch in her gut. Did he really think she was that stupid?

"Are you kidding me?" John demanded, his voice rising with anger. "You tell me that Sonny isn't the one that killed Claudia and your proof is that she wasn't shot? Do you really expect me to believe that after he had threatened to do just that in front of a room full of witnesses?"

Sam understood where he was coming from. To John, Sonny was the bad guy. The one that set the events that led up to Claudia's death in motion.

She knew that he wanted Corinthos to pay for that but after seeing that picture and hearing about all the things that their sister had done, Sam had begun to realize that it wasn't as simple as John wanted it to be.

What John had said about Claudia being her own worst enemy was the sad truth. Their sister had made her own choices and her actions would have eventually come out and when that happened, there would not have been a safe place for her to hide.

The manner in which Corinthos treated their sister was irrelevant. The things he said, while hurtful and extremely despicable (particularly his remark about his and Claudia's unborn son) were spoken in extreme anger and Corinthos being the impulsive idiot he was, Sam wasn't at all surprised that he had reacted that way.

What mattered to Sam was finally putting her sister to rest. And in death, Claudia would have peace which was why Sam wanted her sister's body so she could do one good thing for Claudia.

Claudia had had a tough life—there was no denying that but she wasn't the only that had been dealt a rough hand in the world or even in their family. Sam couldn't exactly blame someone for doing whatever they could to stop her disturbed sister from harming an innocent women and baby.

But what was absolutely unacceptable to her was the lie that had been told about what had happened. Not to the police (of course) but to her and John.

"I know you don't want to accept this but wouldn't you rather hear the truth than go on believing a lie?" Sam asked her brother, wondering if what he really wanted was to see Corinthos pay for Claudia's death even if he wasn't the one that killed her.

"The _truth_ is that Sonny treated Claudia like crap!" Sam noticed Morgan roll his eyes and wondered if maybe John was rewriting history. "He cut her down and degraded her. She was so determined to make their marriage work that she didn't see that all she was to Sonny was a business opportunity. Totally expendable!"

"And he's going to pay for that, Sam." John nodded determinedly and rose from his seat on the couch beside her. "Mark my words." He made an excuse about needing to get back to the garage and left.

Dominic watched him leave and sighed heavily. "That guy is going to cause some trouble," he said seriously, looking intently at Jason who shrugged in response. "He needs to get it together soon before someone gets hurt."

"He's grieving." Jason said quietly and looked back at Dominic, ignoring Sam McCall for the moment. "His sister just died. I can't exactly fault him for being upset."

Dominic scoffed. "He's not just grieving, Jason, he's pissed off." Then he leaned forward. "He blames Sonny for what happened to Claudia. He's ignoring what his sister did to Michael and everybody else. He's turned her into some kind of a saint for god sake's when we both know she was anything but."

Jason couldn't believe that Dominic had said something like that in front of John's other sister. And before he could get a chance to tell him so, Sam interrupted him, beating him to the punch.

"You didn't exactly help matters when you gave that photograph to Olivia Falconeri." Sam remarked, glaring at him angrily. He had the nerve to criticize her brother when he had helped fuel the fire by doing such a stupid thing. Then she pointed to the door. "If you think that was bad, you should have seen his reaction to seeing Claudia's lifeless body lying in a pool of her own blood on the floor of some cabin."

"He was absolutely furious!" She enjoyed watching Dominic squirm uncomfortably in front of her. "What the hell were you thinking when you handed a picture like that over to a civilian who just happens to be my brother's girlfriend?"

Jason had stiffened again at the mention of the photograph and now hearing that a copy had been handed over to Olivia, he aimed a lethal glare at Dominic.

"You did WHAT?"

Eager to make the bumbling idiot pay for his earlier slight as well as his most recent one, Sam answered Jason's question for Dominic and she told him all about what had happened at John's apartment when she had come upon her brother and Olivia arguing about the photograph.

"When I was finally able to see the picture, I asked where it had come from." Sam continued, recalling her frustration with John for having the audacity to tell her that he wasn't going to show her the picture as well as her anger at Olivia for physically preventing her from being able to see it.

"Olivia told us that one of your men had given it to her a few days before and John had found it in one of her drawers." She cut her eyes at Dominic as a reprimand for being so unbelievably stupid. "Apparently, Dominic here was trying to warn Miss Falconeri about getting involved with your partner."

Jason didn't even know where to start as he turned his gaze back to Dominic. He guessed he should start by finding out if what Sam McCall said was true. "Did you give a copy to Olivia?"

Dominic swallowed uncomfortably as he wracked his brains for an explanation that wouldn't cast more suspicion on him. "Yes." He admitted shakily. Jason's eyes grew colder which he didn't think was possible. The guy was a block of stone as it was. He noticed Miss McCall's eyes glitter with triumph and he knew the woman was enjoying this. She was going to be trouble for him.

"Why?" Jason demanded angrily, glaring at him harshly now. "I asked you to find out where it had come from, not pass it around and stick your nose in matters that don't concern you."

It was obvious that the "matter" Jason was referring to was Sonny's relationship with his mother and he knew that it was a stupid and reckless thing to do but he couldn't sit back while his mother was being dragged into another dangerous situation.

Being involved with Johnny Zacchara was bad enough but his mother clearly had a previous relationship with Sonny as well and her current involvement with Johnny was obviously annoying Sonny which just exacerbated an already tense situation. He didn't understand what had possessed her to do such a stupid thing and he wouldn't allow things to get worse than they already were for her.

Sam found the newbie's silence alarming. He was sitting there with a thoughtful expression on his face and it was obvious that he was scrambling to come up with a plausible explanation. But he was taking way too long and the anxiety that had flashed in his eyes and then vanished quickly worried her.

She turned to Morgan and looked at him questioningly. He was suspicious as well. Of course he'd have to be an idiot not to be suspicious. Dominic's actions were beyond questionable. He was a new hire who was new to Port Charles with no apparent connections to anyone. So why would he go out of his way to warn a woman who he had no history with or personal connection to about getting involved with his boss?

Then something else occurred to her and she looked back at Dominic.

"How did you even know where Olivia lives?" John's girlfriend had told them that Dominic had shown up at her apartment out of the blue and given her the photograph which told Sam that he had known where to find her and that it was not his first visit.

Dominic had clearly not been expecting that question because he turned to her immediately and answered without thinking. "Port Charles is a small town. I asked where I could find her."

Sam nodded slowly. It was a reasonable explanation.

The town was small enough for other people to know where Olivia lived and small town folk weren't known to be cautious about revealing delicate information about someone else. All Dominic would have to do was ask the right person where to find Olivia and he surely had lived in Port Charles long enough to know who that would be.

Except something still bothered her about it.

"Why didn't you just try the Metro Court?" Jason asked, catching on to what Sam was hinting at. It was clear that she didn't like Dominic and why she would bother to try to protect his organization was beyond him but he was grateful for the help.

Sam's eyes flashed and her gaze darted to him momentarily and he could swear he saw gratitude in those dark orbs. Then she focused her attention back to Dominic.

Thanks to Morgan, Sam now knew why she was so bothered by Dominic's explanation. It was too simple. Too neat. The woman worked at the Metro Court Hotel where Sam was staying and had seen her on multiple occasions. So why would Dominic bother to find out where she lived when where she worked was common knowledge?

She realized suddenly that it wasn't his first attempt in seeking her out which probably meant that his late-night visit to her apartment wasn't the first one. "Oh, God." Sam groaned as a horrible thought occurred to her.

Morgan snapped his head to look at her, his gaze piercing and questioning.

Sam knew it was not really any of her business but she couldn't leave it alone. John was attached to that women for some reason and this would kill him.

Jason watched as a myriad of emotions crossed her features. She had obviously come to some sort of conclusion and whatever it was, she wasn't pleased. "Are you sleeping with her?" Sam McCall asked reluctantly, spearing Dominic with an accusatory glare.

The newbie's face drained of all colour and his features had twisted comically as he stared at her in horror.


	8. Chapter 8

_Yep it's actually me with an update. You can pick your jaws up off the floor. I really am sorry for the lack of updates on, well, all of my stories. I've been pretty busy looking for a job and it's kinda consuming most of my thoughts and time so there's not really a lot of room left for writing. But I managed to get a chapter for this story done so yay for me and here it is. Enjoy._

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**CHAPTER EIGHT **

_"Are you sleeping with her?"_

Dominic felt his throat close up as he froze at the unexpected and disturbing question, and quickly found it difficult to breathe. He coughed several times, desperately gasping for breath which seemed to make breathing even more difficult.

After a minute or so, he was finally able to stop coughing. He reached for the glass of water on the table that he had poured earlier and quickly drained the glass of the precious liquid. He raised his gaze to see Jason's eyes wide and his brow furrowed in confusion while he gazed at him.

He glanced over to Sam McCall and was immediately annoyed by the pair of dark amused eyes staring back at him, the corner of her mouth twitching as if she were fighting back a smile.

"Well?" She demanded, tapping her high-heeled, boot-clad foot on the floor, emphasizing her own irritation.

He stared at her. "Well what?" Dominic asked, his voice squeaking embarrassingly.

Sam rolled her eyes at his attempt at playing dumb. "You and Olivia Falconeri. Were the two of you playing mattress tag or not?"

Dominic gave a firm shake of his head in the negative. "I haven't slept with her." He went pale all of a sudden as if the topic of conversation was making him nauseous. "And I never will."

Sam's eyebrows rose at such a definite statement. "O. K." Then she turned to Jason Morgan, who looked just as dumbfounded as she was with the newbie's behaviour.

"We still have some things to discuss." She told Jason a few minutes later.

Jason snorted at her complete and utter lack of subtlety. She wanted Dominic gone and she hadn't even bothered to be polite about it. Her eyes swirled with frustration that he hadn't acted yet and he fought back a smirk.

He had just met the woman and she was already a major source of conflict for him. She had incited a number of fights since her arrival and was also the reason behind many more so he figured turnabout was fair play.

He almost laughed when she turned to aim a glare at him and then jerked her chin firmly in Dominic's direction.

Jason finally sighed and looked at Dominic. "Give us a few minutes will you?" He spoke like it was a question but Sam could tell from the look in his eyes that it was an order. She had a feeling the man wasn't used to being disobeyed or questioned.

Dominic took the hint and stood from his seat quickly; murmuring about going to check on how someone named Spinelli was progressing. "I'll let you know if he's found anything." He looked to her and hesitated before he spoke. "Ms. McCall." He nodded his head at her politely but failed to disguise his distaste for her.

She rolled her eyes in response and when he realized she had no intention of speaking to him, he snorted and walked away. When she heard the loud slam of the door closing, she turned to Jason.

"He's hiding something." She commented in a singsong tone. Then she leaned forward seriously. "He's going to cause trouble for you. You can bet on that."

"I'll worry about that another day." He remarked and she took the fact that he didn't dispute what she told him as a compliment. "Let's get back to business, shall we."

"Absolutely." She leaned back against the couch and smiled at him mischievously. "Which item would you like to tackle first? Would you like to arrange when and where I can collect Claudia's remains or would you like to tell me who killed her?"

Jason glanced at her as he thought it over. "Do you honestly expect me to believe that you care about retrieving your sister's remains?"

Sam tilted her head at him. "Whether I care or not is irrelevant." She looked around his home and her gaze settled on the pictures that stood over his fireplace. "What should concern you is how much trouble I'll cause for you if you don't give me what I want."

"I can be an unbelievable pain in the ass." She winked at him in promise.

He reached up and pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance. "Fine." He relented and glared at her. "You'll get your sister's remains. I'll arrange the details with Johnny."

She smiled at him. "Great. Now onto the second item on the list." She leaned forward, her eyes sparkling as she looked him in the eye. "I want a name."

He hesitated and she raised an eyebrow at him inquiringly. "What is it?" She asked tiredly.

Jason stared at her for a few intense moments and she could see the wheels turning in his head as he debated with himself. "How can I be sure that the second I tell you what you want to know, you won't go to the police with the information?"

She blinked at him. "You have my word."

Jason's eyebrows flew to his hairline and she didn't know why but she felt offended by his lack of trust. After all, between the two of them, he was the one that had lied about something. Most recently, anyway.

"You used to be a con artist, didn't you?" He asked her slowly.

"Yes." She answered reluctantly, wondering why he was asking about her past occupation.

"Then that means you made your living by lying to people and screwing them over." He looked at her incredulously. "And I'm supposed to share important information with you and just trust that you'll keep it to yourself out of the goodness of your heart?"

Her temper flared at the reminder of how she used to live but she shoved her anger down. "That was a long time ago."

"Meaning what exactly?"

"It means that when I say I won't tell the police who killed Claudia, I'm telling you the truth."

He scoffed at that and her dark eyes narrowed, burning with fire as she glared at him murderously.

That gesture reignited her temper and she could no longer rein it in. "Need I remind you that I am the wronged party here, Mr. Morgan. Someone from your side murdered my sister and then you prevented us from being able to have her funeral thus dragging this whole ordeal out way longer than was necessary." She rose from her seat and stomped a few feet away before she whirled back around to face him. "I came here to get answers and to stop a war from starting."

Cold blue eyes regarded her carefully at that outburst and he waited for her to continue on. She let out an exasperated sigh. "Anthony was chomping at the bit over Claudia's death, ranting about getting revenge no matter the cost when I visited him. I should think you'd want to avoid this getting messy since you obviously care about the person you're covering for."

"I do." He admitted, feeling a small amount of guilt for the way he had acted. "And I don't want to start a war over this."

"Well, neither do I." She held his gaze for a few heated seconds before she finally looked away. "The truce between the Zacchara and the Corinthos-Morgan organizations needs to stay in effect for everyone's sake."

"And you have the power to make sure that it does?" Jason asked, his doubt about her capabilities obvious in his tone of voice.

She smirked and tossed her head to the side, her hair following her movements, and the slightly curled brown locks quickly reframed her face. "I was born a Zacchara. That's all the power that I need. And if there are problems, I have ways of making them disappear."

Jason's interest flared at the calculating way she spoke. There was no doubt as to what she meant when she said that the threats would be eliminated and he had an urge to get some answers about what those 'methods' may be.

"Such as?"

She winked at him suggestively, taking a step back away from him. "If there's a bug causing problems, the simple solution is to squish it. I provide the boot that does the squishing."

He looked at her in amazement. "Are you telling me that you're a _facilitator_?"

"That's such a harsh word." Sam said, not appreciating his disbelieving and somewhat judgmental tone either. Their jobs weren't that much different, really. His was just… messier. And given what he did, who was he to criticize?

"I'm more of a liaison when you think about it. A go-between if you will. The higher-ups give an order and I simply," She paused as she searched for the right way to explain. "I make it happen."

"You make it sound like you're a secretary."

She drew back in offence. "Hardly." Shaking her head, she began muttering under her breath and from what he could hear, she was cursing him out. After she was finished, she took a deep breath, probably to calm down and looked at him patiently.

"Let's say that a boss wanted someone to disappear."

"'The boss' being your grandfather?" He wondered if she would admit that she does her family's dirty work.

"Someone within the organization in a position of authority," She said, evading the direct question, choosing not to give any specific names. "There are a lot of people that fit the description."

"You do know that I know who your grandfather is don't you?" He interrupted her.

A frustrated sigh was the only acknowledgement she gave before she went right back to what she was saying. "As I was saying, a higher-up says that someone needs to go away. What I do is arrange it. I find the hit-man, provide a weapon if necessary and come up with a time and place and a plausible alibi if the man turns out to be incompetent and gets caught."

"So why didn't Claudia call you?"

Her eyes widened at the unexpected question. She remained speechless as she processed for a few seconds but when she finally comprehended what he was asking; her eyes went black with rage, sparking bolts of fury throughout the room.


End file.
